A white marble child, curled up in a fetal position, is on display from today in the center of the Maqueda Courtyard of the Royal Palace of Palermo, facing one of the most important spiritual places in the world, the Palatine Chapel, symbol of the coexistence between different cultures and religions.
This is the famous work "Look Down", a clear invitation to "look down", created by the artist Jago (pseudonym of Jacopo Cardillo) and commissioned by the Federico II Foundation, in collaboration with the municipality of Palermo.
The "fetus" represents the gaze of art aimed at the most fragile, in antithesis to indifference.
The sculptor, considered one of the greatest artists on the national and international scene, participated in the press preview of the exhibition in the morning, with the president of the Federico II Foundation Gaetano Galvagno and the general director Patrizia Monterosso present.
The work will remain on display from tomorrow until June 3rd.
Jago loves typically figurative classical sculpture, but he is a contemporary artist in all respects, for his ability to express a great conceptual symbolism between reason and feeling, managing to impart extraordinary humanity to his sculptures.
An almost natural relationship is created between the work and the context, a dialogue that is not only conceptual but also visual between the work and the ancient architectural beauty of the ancient Palazzo dei Normanni, also home to the Sicilian Parliament.
The work, which provides a contemporary mirror through which visitors can process the challenges of the present day, becomes an opportunity to explore the social themes proposed by the artist.
“Look Down” was initially exhibited in Piazza del Plebiscito, in Naples, during the lockdown.
Subsequently, the work was placed in the Al Haniyah desert in Fujairah (United Arab Emirates) taking the name "Look Here", where it was vandalized during its stay.
Originally, in fact, an iron chain was part of the work, in place of the umbilical cord, which is no longer present today.
In September 2023, it was then brought back to Italy and placed in front of the Colosseum in Rome.